Related Articles

Citizen scientists volunteering for oldWeather transcribe ships’ logs. The ships currently available are from United States and spent time in the Arctic.

The project was started as a way to find out what past weather was like in order to better predict the climate’s future.

Learning about weather was the primary goal of oldWeather, but as they got data back from citizen scientists, they found many things of historical interest.

Now historians also use the transcriptions to tell the stories of the ships and the people on board.

You can be a citizen scientist and a citizen historian at once!

Why Is It Important?

Data from the transcriptions is used in climate model projections; because the more scientists know about past weather, the better their models get at predicting future climate.

“oldWeather provides basic information about how the weather has varied in the past, and I hope to see this information provide critical context and understanding for the weather that’s affecting us today,” Philip Brohan, a climate scientist and part of the oldWeather team, reports.

All of the data from oldWeather is open access and can be used by scientists, historians, geographers, and the public around the world.

How Can You Get Involved?

Everything about oldWeather is designed to make the experience easy, fun, and collaborative.

As volunteer Annette De Havilland puts it, “I saw the attractive interface and thought I can do this! I don’t need to be an expert. I can record what I see and contribute to the scientific understanding of climate change.”

Lisa Feldkamp is the senior coordinator for new science audiences. She loves all things citizen science and enjoys learning about everything that goes on four legs, two wings or fins. She has a PhD in Classical Literature and Languages from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and enjoys reading Greek and Roman literature or talking about mythology in her spare time.
More from Lisa